IS leader 'flees' to Libya

Tripoli, Dec 10: The leader of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has "fled" to Libya and is based in the group's stronghold of Sirte.

According to a report on Wednesday, Baghdadi travelled to Libya amid fears the US-led coalition and Iraqi intelligence services were closing the net around him.

He was seriously injured in an air strike in October by Iraq's air force in Anbar province. He was first taken to the group's self-styled capital of Raqqa in Syria, where doctors saved his life, but a lack of specialised medical equipment meant he needed to be moved, the report said.

He was then taken to Turkey for treatment and from there travelled to Libya.

"While everyone is looking for him in Iraq and Syria, no one expects him to be in Sirte," the report quoted a Libyan source as saying.

Al-Baghdadi was planning to lead an attack on the northwest coastal city of Misurata and the country's oilfields and was also plotting fresh attacks in Tunisia, according to Libya Dawn.